Outcast
by temperanceluvr
Summary: When Rima stumbles into the feudal era, she believes it to be nothing but a dream. Then why is she drawn to the old well at the Higurashi Shrine? The demonic powers she's had since birth seem to be growing stronger while she's in the feudal era. In order to take control of her future, Rima must understand her feudal past.
1. Chapter 1: The Mysterious Well

It was pouring rain as I made my way to my new school. For as long as I could remember I've always been a loner. I had always been the outcast of any school I went to, and just because I'm different. Everyone's always picked on me because I'm clumsier than most people and for another reason that I won't bother mentioning right now. So needless to say, I was not too thrilled about this new school in the least.

When I got to the school I was soaking wet. My umbrella had been stolen the day before so I had to deal with being wet. Not that I really cared or anything, I have learned to deal with things like this by now. As I made my way to the classroom I heard people pointing and laughing, but I had gotten used to that as well. I just stood by the door to the classroom and waited for the teacher to arrive.

"Hey there,"

I looked up as a girl with long black hair stood in front of me. She had a smile on her face. "I haven't seen you around here before, are you the new transfer student?" she asked.

"What of it?" I asked.

She noticed the puddle at my feet. "You know, I believe they have a dryer in the basement, I can take you there so you can dry off—"

She reached for my hand but I slapped it away. "Don't touch me." I said coldly. "I don't need your help."

"Kagome, there you are!" a girl asked as she and her friends walked over to the girl I assumed was named Kagome. Her friends saw me and gasped. "Kagome, what are you doing talking to _her_?"

They grabbed her hand and pulled her away from me. "Don't you know who that is?!" one girl asked. "That's the demon girl, Rima Takiyori! You better stay away from her!"

They pulled her into the classroom and I was left alone in the hall.

The teacher came over to me and sighed. "Let's get this over with Ms. Takiyori." He said. He opened the door to the classroom and wrote my name on the board. "Class, this is our new transfer student, Rima Takiyori."

The students all began to whisper with one another as the teacher gave me the desk in the back of the classroom by the window. I took my seat and kept my face down toward my desk.

"Alright class, it's time for today's lesson." The teacher said and everyone went silent. "Today we're going to discuss an old Japanese legend of a very famous wolf demon named Akari…"

I zoned out and stared out the window at the dark sky. I had never really been interested in school—no matter what subject it was. At lunchtime, I had stayed at my desk and the only other people in the classroom were the girls from before and Kagome.

"So Kagome, how're things going with Inuyasha?" one of Kagome's friends asked.

_Inuyasha… why does that name sound so familiar?_ I wondered to myself as I zoned out again.

"Hey Rima, aren't you going to eat lunch?"

I looked up. Kagome's friends had left the room and she and I were the only ones still in the room. She had moved to the desk beside mine and had pulled out her lunch. I didn't understand this girl… usually nobody ever wanted to talk to me—nonetheless be _around_ me. Why was she treating me so differently from everyone else?

"I… I'm not hungry." I lied as I looked away from her. A moment later my stomach betrayed me and growled.

Kagome gave me a small smile. "Here, you can have some of my lunch."

I looked at her puzzled. "Why?" I asked.

"Because you're hungry and don't have anything to eat." She replied.

I stood up and walked out of the classroom. Even though it was still the middle of school, I had decided to leave and go home. On the way home, I kept wondering where I had heard the name Inuyasha before.

"I'm pretty sure I've never met anyone with such a strange name before." I thought aloud. "But then why does the name sound so… _familiar_?"

I stopped and realized that I had been so lost in thought that I had taken a wrong turn somewhere. I had ended up in front of a large shrine. I looked up at the shrine and felt as if something was calling to me from within. I walked up the steps to the shrine and slid open the doors to a small building. Inside there was an old well that had a strange presence coming from deep inside it.

"Hello, can I help you?"

I realized that I had been leaning into the well so far that if I had leaned in any further I would've fallen in. I turned to see an old man standing in the doorway to the building. He looked at me curiously.

"What are you doing in here—this place is off limits to visitors." He said sternly.

"I… uh…" I took a step back without thinking and fell into the well. I shut my eyes as I fell and was surprised to find that I landed softly. I opened my eyes and looked up to see that instead of a ceiling, I saw the sky. "What the hell happened?"

I climbed out of the well and realized that I was in the middle of a forest. I looked around and didn't see any buildings nearby. I sat down on the grass and leaned up against the well. I looked at the sky and watched as the clouds passed by. I began to feel tired and closed my eyes. Within moments, I was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Insane Dream

I was sitting at my bedroom window waiting for my parents to get home. They'd been away on a business trip and left me in charge at home. After a few minutes, their car pulled up to the house. My parents walked into the house and didn't even bother calling up to me to let me know they were back. It was just another day that they didn't care at all about me.

"Rima…" my younger sister stood in the doorway. "Mommy and daddy are back."

I ignored her and stared out the window at the pouring rain. There was a bright flash of lightning and I suddenly wasn't in my room anymore. I was standing in what appeared to be a feudal era castle courtyard. I saw a boy with silver hair wearing a red kimono lying unconscious a few yards in front of me. Kagome was kneeling down beside him crying. There was a man with long black hair standing between them and myself. He turned toward me and I opened my mouth to scream…but nothing came out.

My eyes flashed open and I shot upright. I was covered in sweat and my hands were shaking violently. _What was that just now? Who was that strange man?_

I looked around and saw that I was no longer in the forest but in an old hut. I also was not alone in the hut. Sitting in front of me was a monk with short black hair and a small ponytail. He looked over at me and saw that I was awake.

"Oh, you're awake." He said. "That's a relief."

"Who are you?" I asked. "Where am I?"

"I am Miroku and you are in Lady Kaede's home." He replied. "You must be from Kagome's time, judging from your clothes."

"Kagome's… time?" I asked confused as a black haired woman wearing a purple and white kimono with a green skirt over it walked into the hut with a two-tailed cat thing and a small child at her feet.

"I thought I heard you talking to someone." The woman said.

I stood up. "I don't know what is going on here, but I'm going to go home now." I walked over to the curtain and stepped outside. Right outside there was the boy from my dream standing there. "You're…"

The images of him from my dream flashed in my head and I grabbed my head as it began to throb in pain. I took off back toward the forest, tears flying from my eyes. I didn't know where I was going once I had entered the forest, but I knew I had to get away from that boy.

"What's happening to me? Why does my life keep getting stranger and more complicated? Why can't I just be normal for once in my life?" I screamed as I came upon the clearing where the well was.

There was a gust of wind around me. I heard a man laughing and turned to see someone wearing a white baboon skin walking out of the trees. I backed away from him and toward the well, hoping that by some miracle it could take me back home and wake me up from this nightmare.

He gave a soft laugh that sent a shiver down my spine. "You wish to be normal, do you?" he asked. His voice was so cold and lifeless that I was afraid to respond. "I can help with that…" he began to walk toward me and I backed up against the well. "No need to be afraid, I am not going to harm you. Before I help you, I shall give you a piece of advice. Those people you were with earlier—they are not to be trusted."

Another gust of wind blew around me and I shielded my eyes from the dust. When I opened my eyes, the man was gone and I felt something in my hand. I opened my hand to see a small piece of glass.

"What is this for?" I wondered to myself as I sat on the edge of the well. I looked it over before I heard someone heading in my direction. Almost instinctively I jumped up and ran behind a tree to hide.

"I'm sensing it over in this direction Inuyasha." The man named Miroku said as he walked into the clearing.

_Did he say…Inuyasha? Wasn't that the name of Kagome's boyfriend?_ I cautiously peered out from behind my hiding place and saw the group from before looking around the clearing. I saw the boy with silver hair and the red kimono first and realized that he had small white dog ears on his head.

"Where is it Miroku?" the boy asked.

"I'm not sure exactly, but it's nearby…" Miroku replied.

"What should we do about the girl from before?" the woman asked walking over to Miroku. "If she's from Kagome's time, shouldn't we try to help her go back before a demon finds her?"

"How'd she get here in the first place?" the young boy asked jumping up on the woman's shoulder. "I thought only Inuyasha and Kagome could pass through the well."

_I am now extremely confused._ I said as my mind tried to wrap around everything I was hearing. _I must be dream or something… that must be it! This is all a big dream that I'm having from hitting my head too hard when I fell into the well._

"Well obviously the jewel shard isn't here anymore." The silver haired boy said grumpily. "Let's go back to the village, there's no point staying here if there's no jewel shard."

"Inuyasha, you are so impatient." The woman sighed. "But alright,"

_That boy is Inuyasha?_ I thought curiously. _I wonder how Kagome's boyfriend—whom I've never met before—got into my dream._

I watched as the group left and waited until I was sure they were gone before dashing over to the well. "My dream started when I fell into this well… maybe… maybe if I go back in I'll wake up!"

I took a deep breath and prayed to the god that I doubted even existed that I would wake up safe and sound in my bed before leaping into the well.


	3. Chapter 3: Echoes of the Past

I woke up in the bottom of the well and heard a commotion from above. I looked up and saw the ceiling and realized that I must've woken up from my insane dream.

"Hey—whoever's up there!" I shouted. "Can you help me get out of here?"

Kagome appeared at the top of the well. She saw me and gasped. "Oh god—let me get the rope ladder!" she turned around and a minute later a rope ladder fell into the well and in a minute I was out of there.

"Are you alright Rima?" Kagome asked worried. "Grandpa told me what happened earlier and I—"

I had begun to walk away from her and leave the shrine while she spoke, not really wanting to talk to her. _It's not like she'll care… nobody ever does anyway…_

"Rima—wait a minute!" Kagome ran after me. She ran in front of me and blocked my exit. "I don't know what I did to you, but you don't have to be so unsociable you know!" Her face softened and she looked at me with a strange look in her eyes. I had only seen that look once before when I had told my younger sister that I was leaving home. It was a look of sadness. Kagome took my hands and smiled. "I don't know why everyone at school doesn't like you, but I _want_ to be your friend."

…_having even one friend is better than being alone…_

My eyes widened as the familiar voice echoed in my mind. I backed away from Kagome, pulling my hands away from hers. "Why…?" I asked my voice uneasy. I grabbed my head. "Why now…? After all this time—"

"Rima, is something wrong?" Kagome asked.

"Stay away from me!" I yelled at her, my eyes full of tears. "I don't need your pity and I don't want your friendship! Just leave me alone!"

I ran past her as I began to cry. I didn't stop until I had made my way back to the old forgotten playground that had become my home. I climbed into the dome through one of its holes and crawled over to the knapsack I kept hidden there. I pulled out an old blanket and wrapped it around myself before I cried myself to sleep.

"_Rima, this way!" Kohta called as he ran ahead of me toward the river. "Hurry up, we're gonna miss it!"_

"_I'm coming Kohta!" I called back to my friend. It was the middle of summer and it was the best time to watch the fireflies dancing over the water. Kohta had shown it to me only the year before when we first met._

_We reached the riverbank and gazed in awe at the beautiful scene of the tiny fireflies floating above the water as they did every year._

"_It's so pretty!" I said happily._

"_You know… the city plans to build a power plant along this river soon." Kohta said sadly as he knelt beside the water. He placed his hand in the water and sighed. "Once they do that, the chemicals from the plant will run off into this river and the fireflies will go away."_

"_What? No way! They can't just do that!" I shouted. "That's not fair to the fireflies!"_

_Kohta smiled. "I knew you'd say that Rima… you have such a generous heart, even after everything that's happened to you." He stood up and smiled at me. "I know I'm your only friend, but isn't having even one friend better than being alone?"_

I opened my eyes as sunlight streamed in through the holes of the dome. I pushed the painful memories out of my mind and pushed my knapsack back into its hiding place before I left the park.

***Kagome POV***

_I wonder if Rima is doing okay…_ I wondered as I walked beside Inuyasha and the others. I learned from my friends at school that she transferred schools often due to fighting with other students.

"_I heard she's a real problem kid." Eri said as we ate our lunch. "She's apparently always starting fights for no reason and that's why she keeps transferring to new schools."_

"_That's not even the worst part," Ayumi said before quickly glancing around as if she was about to share a secret. "I overheard some upperclassmen talking about her earlier. They say that she isn't even human!"_

_My eyes widened. __**Not human? But I'm sure that no demons have followed me through the well… and Rima certainly doesn't seem to be a demon…**_

_Yuka gasped. "Then __**what**__ is she?" she asked._

"_Rumor is that she's really a demon." Ayumi said quietly._

***Rima POV***

I managed to find my way back to the shrine I had stumbled upon the day before. I went straight to where the well was located. I put my hands on the side of the well and took a deep breath.

"I must be god-damn insane to be doing this…" I said quietly to myself. I looked at the jewel shard in my hand. "If that really _was_ a dream… then where'd this thing come from?"

"_You wish to be normal, do you? I can help with that…"_

I closed my hand around the jewel shard. "Evidently it _was_ more than a dream…" I looked down into the darkness of the well. "I am probably going to regret this… but…" I leapt into the well.

A bright light engulfed me and I somehow landed safely on the bottom of the well. When I looked up, I saw the same blue sky I had seen before.

"Okay… now that I'm back… wherever this place is, what am I supposed to do now?" I said as I climbed out of the well and looked around. I heard a twig snap behind me and spun around, falling off the well. There was a loud explosion and dust flew everywhere. I sat up and coughed. "What the hell was that?"

I looked over at where the sound came from and saw that it looked like a small bomb had exploded near the trees.

"What the hell—"

I turned and saw the same group of people from before. They looked at me shocked and then back at the dent in the trees.

"She's the most powerful demon I've ever seen." The woman commented.

"Are we sure she's a demon?" Miroku asked. "She _is_ wearing the same clothes Kagome usually wears."

Inuyasha stepped forward, grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "Look, see these ears?" he said pointing to my ears. "_Humans_ don't have pointed ears. Humans also don't have the ability to cause explosions out of thin air."

I pulled my arm away from him. "Excuse me!" I said impatiently. "I am _not_ a demon! I don't know _who_ you all have been talking to but I _am_ human!"

…_is there something wrong with being a demon…?_

My eyes widened as my own voice echoed through my ears. I reached up to cover my ears when I noticed that my ears had changed. They were now pointed. I lowered my hands and gazed at them in disbelief. "What is happening to me?" I said softly.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at Miroku. He looked at me with kind eyes and said, "I apologize if we have offended you. You see, our world is filled with many demons and it is sometimes hard to tell the difference between them and humans upon first glance."

"But I don't understand," I said. "Growing up I knew I was strange and could do things nobody else could, but I never believed others when they called me a _demon_. And now all of a sudden I find myself here and I really _am_ a demon?"

***Miroku POV***

We walked Rima back to Kaede's house and rejoined Kagome and Shippo. Kagome was surprised to see Rima with us but quickly rushed to her side.

"Inuyasha, can I speak with you for a minute?" I asked Inuyasha. He nodded and we both left the hut and walked around outside.

"What is it Miroku?" Inuyasha asked.

"I don't want to say anything in front of her, but I can sense that Rima has a sacred jewel shard." I said to him.

"What? But how could she have a jewel shard?"

"I'm just as confused as you are. I get the strange feeling that Naraku is behind this somehow." I explained.

***Kagome POV***

I looked up as Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha returned to Kaede's house. I was very surprised to see Rima was with them.

"Rima," I said rushing over to her. I noticed her ears were different, but I was more concerned with the fear and confusion I saw in her eyes. "Are you alright Rima?"

She looked up at me and I was shocked to see tears in her blue eyes. After what my friends had told me about her, I had imagined her as someone who was tough and indifferent. The way she looked right now… I couldn't believe that this was the same girl my friends at school had told me about.

"Rima… are you alright?" I asked worried.

Her face changed and she quickly wiped her eyes. "I'm fine," she said, though I had a feeling she was lying. "I am just a bit overwhelmed, I guess…"

"I understand; it was overwhelming for me too." I said to her. "I don't understand how you were able to come through the well, but there must be a reason for it."

"You say this girl is from your time, Kagome?" Lady Kaede asked walking over to us. She looked at Rima and noticed her ears were similar to a demon's. "This girl… she is truly a demon from our time."

"What are you talking about?" Rima asked shocked. "I—I'm not a demon! And I'm _not_ from this… this _time_!"

Kaede sighed. "There is only one explanation for this. This girl possesses the dark jewel."

"Dark jewel…?" I asked curious. "Is it similar to the sacred jewel?"

***Rima POV***

"Dark… jewel…?" I reached into the collar of my shirt and pulled out the necklace I have always kept with me. It was a white string with four small pearls spaced about an inch apart from each other. In between the four pearls there was one large, black pearl. I didn't know much about the necklace, only that I'd always had it.

_Father, hurry and get some blankets! There's a child in here!_

"What… what was that… just now?" I murmured to myself. "Was that… a memory…?"

_Leave my daughter alone! You shall not harm her!_

I felt my hands began to shake. "That voice…"

_Rima—Rima run! Get as far away as you can and whatever you do—don't look back! RIMA!_


	4. Chapter 4: Akari's Dark Jewel

"Rima… Rima! Rima are you okay? Rima answer me!"

I realized that I had started crying. I quickly wiped my eyes, but the tears continued to come. "What's wrong with me?" I asked as I kept wiping the tears from my eyes. "Why… why can't I stop crying?"

"Rima…" Kagome looked at me concerned. She turned to the old woman and asked, "Lady Kaede is the dark jewel the same as the sacred jewel?"

"In a way, the dark jewel _is_ similar to the sacred jewel." Lady Kaede replied. "It is a long story, so please, sit down for a while and I shall tell you all about the dark jewel."

I managed to calm down and sit beside the fire with Kagome. Kagome's friends sat with us to listen to the story. I avoided looking at Inuyasha for fear of seeing those dreadful images of him from my nightmare.

"A long time ago," Lady Kaede began. "A great wolf demon named Akari lived in the forests nearby."

_Akari…? That's the demon our teacher was teaching about when I first transferred to my new school._ I thought back to try and remember what the teacher had said when I realized that I had zoned out like I normally did when in school.

"Akari was a very powerful demon, but she was also very compassionate." Kaede continued. "She took on the role of guardian of the nearby forest and acted as mediator between the humans of the village and the demons of the forest. A young fox demon that lived in the forest had soon fallen in love with Akari and her gentle nature. Akari, who noticed the fox demon's feelings for her early on, ended up falling in love with him as well."

"That's unusual, isn't it? Two different kinds of demons falling in love with each other?" The girl commented. "I mean, I've never heard of it happening before."

The little boy looked up at her and said, "Demons usually don't mate with other kinds of demons, so it's not very common, but it _does_ happen."

"Many years passed and Akari and the fox demon worked together to keep the peace between humans and demons." Kaede said poking the fire. "The two were very happy together, especially when they discovered that they would have a child. Akari was worried for her child; for she began to have the strange feeling that something very devastating would be coming to the forest and that her child would be in danger. So, she took a fragment of her soul and formed it into a black jewel that had the ability to protect her unborn child from the approaching threat."

"However, no one knows what happened once the child was born." Kaede concluded. "All we know for sure is that the dark jewel vanished around the same time that my sister died and took the sacred jewel with her to the other side. Soon afterwards, we all forgot about Akari's dark jewel."

I looked down at the black pearl on my necklace and wondered how it could be the same jewel the old woman spoke of. "So you're saying that this jewel," I asked. "Is a fragment of a demon soul?"

Kaede nodded. "Yes, though not much is known about the jewel itself, other than it was made to protect Akari's child from the approaching threat that she alone could sense."

"This doesn't make any sense." I said shaking my head. "I mean, I don't remember hardly anything from before I was six, but I know that I have always had this necklace."

"Kaede, what happened to Akari and the fox demon?" Kagome asked. "What about their child? Does anybody know about what happened to them?"

Kaede thought for a minute before saying, "Around the time Kikyo died, there was a great upset in the forest. Most of the demons who lived there fled and went to find a home someplace else, and we never saw Akari or the fox demon after that."

"This doesn't make any sense!" I shouted standing up. "None of this is making any sense to me! These are all just old stories that have nothing to do with me!" I clutched the dark jewel in my shaking hand. "I've had this necklace for as long as I can remember and it's not from some demon!"

I was about to run out of the hut when Inuyasha blocked my way. "Listen, I don't know much about you or what you've been through, but what I _do_ know is that you have the scent of a demon." He said harshly. "You _and _that jewel are covered in the same scent, so suck it up and deal with it!"

"Inuyasha, you don't have to yell at her like that." Kagome said sharply.

Inuyasha scoffed. "Look here Kagome, if all she does is run away then she'll always be running. You can't run from your problems forever." He said. "Besides, it's not like she doesn't know the truth, she just doesn't _want_ to know."

"Inuyasha!"

I tore from the hut, my heart beating fast. A man's voice was echoing in my mind as I ran.

_I wonder how she got in there, especially at this time of night…_

I covered my ears hoping that the voice would go away.

_There's no other choice, we'll have to take care of her until we can contact Children Services._

"NO! NO! NO!" I shouted, pounding my fists against my head. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" I tripped and fell to the ground, my face hitting the dirt road. My arms and knees hurt and I began to cry, though not out of pain, but of sadness. "I don't want… I don't want to remember…"

…_it's okay to be sad sometimes… Rima …_

I opened my eyes at the soft voice, but when I looked up, nobody was there. I sat up and looked down at the dark jewel. I closed my eyes and the memories from before I had been adopted flowed into my mind.

_I was in the bottom of a well and could hear rain hitting the roof of the building I was in. A flashlight shone down into the well and a man yelled out._

"_Father, hurry and get some blankets! There's a child in here!"_

_The man climbed down into the well and carried me back up where an old man was waiting with a bundle of blankets in his arms._

"_Who is she?" the old man asked._

"_I don't know. I wonder how she got in there, especially at this time of night." the man replied as he wrapped me up in the blankets. "Hey there little one, are you hurt anywhere?"_

_I shook my head and felt something around my neck. I looked down and saw the necklace with the dark jewel around my neck. I closed my hand around it and began to cry. "Mama…"_

"_It's alright, we'll find your mother, don't worry." The old man said patting my head. "Let's take her inside so she can get warm."_

_They took me into their house and into a room where a woman was sitting at a table trying to get her daughter to eat some carrots. When the man walked into the room, the woman looked up and gasped. "Dear, what's the matter? Where did she come from?"_

_The little girl looked up at me and stared curiously. The man placed me down beside her and took the woman into the other room. While I sat in the room, the girl continued to stare at me. After a minute she poked my cheek._

"_Stop it!" I said pushing her hand away. "What'd you do that for?"_

_She paused before reaching over and touching my ears. "Your ears are weird…" she said as she pulled on them._

"_Stop it—that hurts!" I said pushing her away. "Why're you doing that?"_

"_Cause you look funny." She replied. "Your ears are all pointy and your cheeks are all squishy."_

"_I've always been squishy," I said to her. "And isn't everyone's ears pointy?"_

_She shook her head. "No, you're the first one I've seen with them." She hesitated. "My name is Kagome, what's yours?"_

"_To… Toorima…" I said. "Mama and Papa call me Rima."_

_She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Toorima."_

"Rima—Rima!"

I opened my eyes as Kagome ran toward me. When she bent down beside me, I couldn't help myself from staring at her and seeing her as a child again.

"What is it Rima?" she asked when she noticed the way I was staring at her.

"You don't remember either, do you?" I asked.

"Remember what?"

I took her hand and made her touch my pointed ears. Once I did that, I saw her eyes widened as she realized the same thing I had just remembered.

"You're the girl my dad found in the well that night!" she gasped.

I nodded. "I hadn't realized it before… but somehow, being in this place… I'm remembering things," I looked away. "Though… some of them I would rather _not_ remember…"

I was referring to what happened _after_ the week I spent at the Higurashi Shrine… when I was adopted. I had begun to remember things that had happened to me after I had been found in the well on that stormy night… and I wish I hadn't.

"C'mon," Kagome said standing up and holding out her hand toward me. "We can go back to Lady Kaede's home and try to figure everything out, alright?" she saw the hesitation in my eyes and added, "You don't have to do this alone Rima… _I_ won't let you do it alone."

For the first time in years I saw the sincerity and truth in what Kagome was saying to me. It had been so long since anyone had ever shown me _any_ kindness, especially after hearing about my past. I felt a strange yet nostalgic feeling fill my chest and I took Kagome's hand.

On our way back to the village, I continued to hold onto Kagome's hand. The warmth of another's hand in mine was something I thought I'd never feel again. I gave Kagome's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Kagome… thank you…"


	5. Chapter 5: Together Again

***Kagome POV***

Rima and I sat outside by the stream while the others slept in Kaede's hut. The cool night air seemed to help Rima to relax and even though I wanted to help her, I wasn't sure how.

Rima pulled out the Dark Jewel from under her shirt. "My mother gave this to me…" she said. "I remember when your dad found me in the well that I held onto this crying for her." I didn't say anything. She put the necklace back under her shirt and then held her hand in front of her as if she was trying to catch the moonlight.

_I still don't understand why everyone would call Rima a demon…_ I thought to myself. _She isn't anything like what they said at school._

Just then, a sphere of light appeared in Rima's hand. I was shocked by this and gasped, but Rima didn't seem startled at all. "Only one person has never been afraid of me…" she sighed.

"I'm not afraid, Rima, I was just startled." I explained to her, placing my hand on her arm. Curious, I add, "What was his name?" she looked at me confused at how I knew she was talking about a boy and I smile, "I recognize the look in your eyes."

She closed her hand around the sphere of light. "His name was Kohta." She said sadly. She opened her hand and the sphere of light had become hundreds of small spheres of light that flew into the air. They seemed to dance around in the sky like fireflies. "He was the only one that didn't listen to what the other kids told him about me. 'Others are others, I am myself,' he said." She smiled as the lights began to fade away. "The first day he came to school he didn't listen to the other kids when they told him to stay away from me. 'I decide who my friends are,' he told them. It was the first time anyone had stood up for me."

I heard someone walk over to us and was surprised to see Inuyasha sit down beside me. _Is he worried about Rima as well?_ I wondered. Rima didn't look at Inuyasha and I knew it was because he had done almost nothing but yell at her.

***Rima POV***

I avoided looking at Inuyasha and kept my gaze on the stream below us. I thought back to when I first heard Kagome mention his name in school and wondered why it sounded so familiar to me.

"Um… Inuyasha…?" I asked cautiously, my eyes still on the water. "Did you…" the words stuck in my throat. _Did you know my parents?_ I wanted to ask, but I still didn't really know who my real parents were.

"Akari was kind to me when I first came to this village." Inuyasha replied as if he knew what I had wanted to ask. "She knew from the first time she saw me that I was a half-demon, but that didn't matter to her."

Shocked at his response, I looked over at him. Much to my relief, the images from my dream did not flash before me and I was able to see him clearly in the bright moonlight. His expression was genuine and when I looked at his golden eyes, I couldn't help but see how much he resembled Kohta.

He looked at me curious. "What are you smiling about?" he asked.

"No reason," I say. I closed my eyes and remembered Kohta's smile and his kind, honest eyes. It wasn't hard to see why Inuyasha reminded me of Kohta… both had the same gentleness shine in their amber eyes. A gentleness I thought I'd never see again.

Kagome said that we better get some sleep and then we could figure things out in the morning. When I finally managed to fall asleep, I soon wished that I hadn't.

I was standing in the doorway to my parents' home, my knapsack over my shoulder and my younger sister standing behind me. It was the day I had run away from home.

"Nazumi…" I said not looking back at her. I forced my voice to stay calm and steady. "I can't stay here anymore. I don't _belong_ here." _I never did._

"Why can't you stay?" she asked sadly. "Don't you like us anymore?"

A knot formed in my throat at my younger sister's words. She was only three years old. She was too young to understand the complexity of my situation. Even though she was the reason my parents began to ignore me, I never once resented her. I never hated her. She was so innocent and pure—everything that I was not.

I heard her sobbing behind me as I opened the door. I couldn't leave her like this. I couldn't _betray_ her like this. I turned to Nazumi and knew I had to at least give her something. I took the blue hair ribbon out of my hair and ripped it in half. I tied one half around her small wrist into a small bow before doing the same to me with the other half.

"Now you and I will _always_ be together," I said to her with a smile. She looked up at me with tears in her big blue eyes and smiled. I knew I couldn't stay, but at least I know now that Nazumi won't think I betrayed her. She won't think that I didn't _love_ her.

As I walked out the door, I said one last goodbye to my sister. "Nazumi… please forgive me."

When I stepped through the door, I was engulfed in darkness. I was back in that castle courtyard from my previous dream, but this was different. The man with long black hair was standing in front of someone. It was me. I was wearing a priestess outfit, but instead of the usual red and white, it was black and white. My long hair had been let down so that it brushed against my knees in the slight breeze. My eyes were their usual shade of blue, but there didn't appear to be any life in them. I didn't recognize myself.

That's when I saw it. There was a slight glow from my torso, around my navel. It was dark and I could sense a darkness seeping from it. A shiver ran down my spine as I heard the man laughed. His voice was cold and lifeless.

"You have done your part well," he said to me as I stared blankly back at him. "I have no more need for your powers…" he reached forward and touched the spot on my torso where the glow was coming from and then he tore the glow out of my skin. I fell to the ground, grabbing the wound this man inflicted. I saw the life return to my eyes before a flash of red flew past me.

"Get away from her Naraku!" Inuyasha shouted at the man, who dodged Inuyasha's sword.

Inuyasha raised his sword and wind began to swirl around it. There was a flash of light that blinded me and I heard someone scream out my name.

My eyes shot open. I sighed with relief. _It was just another nightmare._ I told myself. It was still dark outside and the others hadn't woken up yet. I quietly got up and walked outside for some fresh air.

I bent down by the stream and splashed some water on my face. I looked at my reflection in the water and wondered how all of this could possibly be real.

"You okay?"

Sango sat down beside me. Kagome had introduced me to her companions and told me the story of how they all came together on the same journey. Kilala was sitting on Sango's shoulder and made a soft meowing sound that reminded me of the time when Nazumi made me promise to buy a kitten for her next birthday. I ran away a week later.

"I couldn't sleep," I told her, lying back on the grass. "So much is happening all at once and I don't understand any of it." I sighed and looked up at the sky as the sun began to rise in the distance. I wanted to go back to my parents' home and see Nazumi. I doubt she would even recognize me, let alone _see_ me. I felt like I had to do something to let Nazumi know that I haven't forgotten about her. "I was thinking about my younger sister, Nazumi. The last time I saw her was when I was ten."

"Did something happen to her?" Sango asked.

I shook my head. "Something happened to _me_." I said. "I ran away from home because my step-parents didn't care about me anymore. They only adopted me so they could have a family, but once they knew they would have a baby of their own… I wasn't needed anymore…"

"I'm sure that's not true." Sango laid down beside me with Kilala in between us. I knew she meant well, but she was very much mistaken. My step-parents _didn't_ love me anymore. That much, I know. I took the blue ribbon out of my hair and held it up in the new morning light. "Is that something of hers?" Sango asked.

"No… this was mine, the man who found me gave it to me." I thought back to when Kagome's father handed me the ribbon to help keep my hair tied back and out of my face. "I tore it in half, one for each of us." I remember her smiling face and wondered what she'd look like now. "She'll be eight years old soon…"

"Would you like to go see her?"

I jumped up at Kagome's voice. She looked at me with understanding eyes and I nodded. She held out her hand for mine. "Let's go see her, Rima. I'm sure she'll want to see you too."

***Nazumi POV***

I stood at the bus stop with my textbooks in my arms. I looked down at the blue ribbon my sister had given me before she left. I always wore it so that a part of her was always with me. I hadn't understood why Rima left, but I knew I'd see her again someday.

The bus turned around the corner and rolled up to the bus stop. I waited for the other passengers to get on before I stepped forward. The moment I stepped onto the bus, I felt as if someone was watching me. I turned to look out the bus doors and almost didn't believe what I saw. Standing on the sidewalk a few yards away, was _her_. Rima and another girl from her school who I assumed to be her friend stood there watching me.

I jumped off the bus and ran toward them, tears in my eyes. I dropped my textbooks and held out my arms. When I reached them, Rima and I shared a loving embrace. I cried out of joy as she wrapped me in her warmth. My sister was back and I never wanted to let her go ever again.


End file.
